A snaggle-roofed pink gothic castle presides over the City of London, but huge chunks of it could soon face the bulldozer.
You may be familiar with Minster Court, the postmodern-gothic complex of three offices designed by Gollins, Melvin and Ward Partnership, and built between 1987 and 1993. It's a strange, somewhat prickly set of buildings — notable for sharp, protruding angles, steeply pitched roofs and a polished pink Brazilian marble exterior.
If you think it's got 'villain's lair' written all over it, you wouldn't be wrong; it starred as Cruella De Vil's haute couture fashion house in Disney's 1996 live action remake of 101 Dalmatians.
Still you can't deny it's got character — something missing from many of the City's more recent builds.
But plans are now underway to smooth the jagged edges off 1-2 Minster Court (the 3 Minster Court section would be left as is); the facades of the building would change from rose-coloured to a creamy, reconstituted stone, and the neo-Bavarian castle chic of the pointy roofs replaced with geometric copper forms, like so:
The buildings' "dispersed, inaccessible and defensive" features would be removed, including the Mincing Lane entrance, which would be replaced with an open piazza scattered with trees and restaurants (see the second image in this article).
Other changes in the redevelopment — now in the first phase of public consultation — would include a new cultural venue, the Basement Box, and (because it wouldn't be a city redevelopment without one) a public rooftop terrace. We can't find mention of what might happen to Dollar, Yen and Sterling, the three bronze horses currently stabled at the Mincing Lane entrance.
This is not an out and out demolition job, but 1-2 Minster Court would look very different post-op — 40% of it gone (the retained 60% includes non-visible stuff like basements and foundations too). While some will actively welcome the proposed revamp, voices of dissent are brewing. Says one commentator on the Skyscraper City website: "I'm surprised Minster Court hasn't been submitted for listing. In my opinion, it is one of the most visually interesting iterations of post modern architecture anywhere."
Another says about the plans: "That's awful.. what a downgrade."
"I think this proposal will generate a lot of backlash... just because of the current site's unique and quite interesting design," says someone else, "Wouldn't be surprised if a #saveminstercourt campaign is formed in the coming months."
If it is, will you join — or are you happy to let the facelift commence?
You can read the full redevelopment plans here.
